Utility accused of shutting off power just so it can charge fee

Instead of just parroting press reports, this blog often gets good tips that pan out. And we may have unearthed yet another display of corporate greed.

I have been told that Duke Energy - the North Carolina-based utility giant that has a monopoly on electricity in the Cincinnati area - has discovered a nifty way of Making Money. (In addition to using power outages as an excuse to raise rates.)

It seems that when people relocate and transfer their power bill to the building's new occupants, Duke shuts the power off - instead of leaving it on as per the customer agreement.

Why is this significant? For one, Dook doesn't need to shut it off, because no power is being used anyway until the new occupants arrive. More importantly, it has been said that Duke charges $25 to $75 as a fee to turn the power back on. In other words, Duke turns the power off just so it can charge the new occupants a fee to turn it back on.

Duke reportedly turns off the power even if the building is only empty for a few hours.

I did some research, and other sources confirm that the fee is indeed $25 to $75 to switch the power back on. So it's only fair to question why the utility company shuts the power off when it doesn't have to.

Is the media going to be on this story like it's been on political opponents' sex lives? Somehow I doubt it. So we have to be on top of it.